What’s on telly tonight? Our pick of the best shows on Wednesday 10th January including Kiri

Kiri, 9.00pm, C4

Writer Jack Thorne follows up his BAFTA-winning National Treasure with an equally hard-hitting drama. Sarah Lancashire plays Miriam, a dedicated if flawed social worker who makes a fateful decision concerning a young black girl in her care. Just before Kiri is about to be adopted by her white foster family, Miriam arranges for the girl to have an unsupervised visit with her biological grandparents. While there, Kiri goes missing and is later found murdered. Miriam is blamed for organising the visit, but the case is more complex than it first seems. An intelligent and uncompromising drama which successfully threads humour though the dark tragedy. Rating: ****

Britain’s Brightest Family, times vary, ITV

Remember Robert Robinson’s long-running programme Ask the Family? This new quiz harks back to that winning formula, with The Chase Governess, aka Anne Hegerty, overseeing proceedings as 16 families take part in a knockout tournament to win a holiday of a lifetime, plus the accolade of being the UK’s brightest bunch. Anne will be testing the contestants on literacy, numeracy, problem-solving and general knowledge, but the trick for the families is to identify and nominate which member of their clan can answer the question correctly. It’s not just about what they know, but how well they know each other. Rating: ****

Girlfriends, 9.00pm, ITV

Sue certainly has a birthday to remember as Kay Mellor’s secrets and lies-packed drama continues! Still reeling from her showdown with boss/lover John and fretting about getting older, the journalist isn’t exactly embracing her milestone. But when her family and friends throw a surprise bash for her, she tries to get into the spirit of things – until her son Andrew chucks a colossal curveball that leaves her reeling. Somehow though, Sue still finds time to team up with Gail to try and learn more about the mysterious Carole Hardcastle in a bid to help their increasingly harassed friend Linda. Then a knock on the door changes everything as Linda is accused of pushing husband Micky overboard… Rating: ****

More previews tomorrow

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